Davenport, Ia. – Texas Gov. Rick Perry made a strong pitch for states’ rights in a campaign speech Tuesday night, saying the federal government has become too powerful and too central in the lives of Americans.

“We need a president of the United States who is an outsider who will go to Washington, D.C., with the intent and purpose of making Washington, D.C., as inconsequential in your life as he can make it,” Perry told a crowd of more than 150 people at the downtown Figge Art Museum.

This was Perry’s fourth stop of the day on a 44-town presidential campaign tour of Iowa prior to the Jan. 3 Iowa Caucuses. He was joined here by Lousiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, who spoke glowingly of Perry’s work before the Texas governor took the podium and was received with a standing ovation.

Perry, who has made remarks in the past hinting that Texans might get so fed up that they would secede from the Union, said the nation’s founding fathers realized that if they were going to live free it would be worth fighting for. As they put together the 10th Amendment they talked about powers not delegated to the states being reserved for the states respectively or the people, he said.

“What a beautiful and elegant and simple amendment to our Constitution, but it says such a powerful thing that the federal government was supposed to do a few things and do it well, like stand up a military,” Perry said.

One of the things that makes America unique in the world is the 10th Amendment, he added, which allows states to compete against each other.

Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad “understands instinctively that you lower the tax rates to make your state more competitive,” Perry said, remarking that he and Branstad have discussed the issue of state competitiveness.

Perry contended both Washington politicians and Wall Street business executives are corrupt and have conspired to use to use taxpayers’ money to keep companies afloat that were considered too big to fail.

He again criticized the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has been target throughout his campaign. He said states should be allowed to oversee environmental issues rather than a “one-size fits all” federal bureaucracy.

“The real culprits are the regulations, and the regulations come in a lot of different forms and fashions.” Perry said. He claimed, for example, that farmers will be paying more for their tractors in the future because of what he considers to be unnecessary federal environmental regulations.

After finishing his stump speech, Perry was asked by a woman in the audience why Texas ranks at the bottom in the nation for children who don’t have health insurance.

He replied that’s because Texas has chosen to have that type of a health care delivery system, unlike Massachusetts, which has chosen to force everyone to buy health insurance.

“I think it is unconstitutional for government to make you buy a private product,” he added.

But Texas still has excellent health care, Perry said. “No one in Texas does not have access to some of the finest health care in the country.”

Texas must be doing something right, Perry added, noting his state continues to have a net migration of people from other states..

For people who don’t his type of government, ”You can move to Massachusetts or California,” he said. “I don’t say that in too much of a joshing way, but the fact of the matter is that is the beauty of the way that we are set up.”